Turkey time

[fbhjr]

For the first time in several weeks, the turkeys that live near my workplace showed up.


The flock is about 1/3 smaller than it was and the birds still there seemed to be harder up for food. Normally when we see them they come out in the morning, go off somewhere and come back at sunset.
This time they circled the building 4 times pecking away at all sorts of things.


They also spent far more time in the trees than normal.


It has been quite cold this week. This morning it started with snow that switched to rain. One of my coworkers thought their feet must be cold walking through very wet snow.
That makes as much sense as anything else given the weather.

Someone, I’m not saying me in case anyone says this isn’t a proper thing to do, through a waffle to them outside the lunchroom.
This resulted in turkey confusion.


They stared at it a lot without getting too close.


Finally, a brave one did peck at it.


Once it decided it liked it, they began to fight over the waffle.


One would grab it and start to run with others following.


They could get a ways, but waffles are not meant to be carried this way and often broke off.

Then turkeys would grab the broken off bits and more chases would start.

My coworkers thought ti was a great show.


If you’re interested, I uploaded some of the video of turkeys with waffle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLLMXY_spKM

Comments

[dewline.livejournal.com]

It's been a while since I've seen anywhere near that many turkeys - wild or barnyard - in that close a gathering, for any reason. A bit of a novelty, that kind of show!

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

Are they wild ones? Is it the cold that's causing the reduction in flock size?

[chaquir.livejournal.com]

hahaha those pics are hilareous!!!! I'm so happy you took those and posted them.

hm... you're sure it wasn't 'you' how tossed that waffle??

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

I thought birds go south for the winter because of the cold?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Yes, they're wild. They live in the woods behind my work building. The building is only 2 years old, so it is probably where they used to stay.

I don't know what reduced the flock size. This is the first time we've seen them in several weeks.
It could be the cold, as it has been very cold this week. (-15 to -18C)
Or, it could be coyotes catching some of them.
Or, maybe some just went off in a different flock.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I will admit I had waffles for breakfast that morning.
And, the human footprints in the snow outside the door would match my shoe size.
And, of course, I was there ready with a camera when it happened.

But, that's all I will say. ;)

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

It depends on the birds in question and how well insulated they are.

And, as the winters the last few years haven't been as cold as they used to be, the birds have not been going as far south as they used to either.

But, turkeys don't travel well. They can fly, but only for short distances and have to walk if they're going any distance. They've got a good bit of body weight and feathers. So, they usually don't go very far. Usually they just wait out the cold.

[chaquir.livejournal.com]

hahaha you're SO busted!!!

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

That is so adorable.

[peterb.livejournal.com]

Someone should have gobbled at them to see what they would do.

[evrgreen.livejournal.com]

Turkey and other foragers are definitely having a challenging time of it finding their food, trying to scratch through the ice, so they will wander around more especially if the snow isn't too deep to find food easier to get at. They have to balance their energy expenditure foraging for food against their actual food intake and stored energy resources and are generally much smarter about it than most humans.

They don't migrate unless something traumatic happens to scare them off or severe food shortage/predator problems - otherwise they will usually spend their whole lives within an area under 12 sq miles.

The flock you see will vary in size throughout the year, as there are regular periods of time when the males are separate from the females, when the females break up into smaller groups to hatch the young, when males will form small groups to court females, and when they all band together (usually in the fall/early winter) for mutual survival/food hunting, and when the "yearling" males become mature enough to stop hanging around momma and start looking for dates. Only so many mature males will be tolerated in a flock of a given size/number of females, so the number in any group of turkeys you happen to see will shift through the months. And there are those that get taken out by coyotes and cars.

You don't want to make these turkeys unafraid of people - it would be bad for them and it could be hazardous to people in your parking lot. The talons/spurs on them will slice through your skin like a velociraptor, albeit a smaller one.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

"You don't want to make these turkeys unafraid of people "

No worries there. They are very leery of people.
And, the waffle was placed while they were on their rounds. So, they did not see where it came from, only that it was on their route on their next tour.